Students’ political engagement and will for action

Students’ desire for action enhances their engagement in democratic experiences in the present, which might favor their development as democratic citizens in the future. Schooling has the potential to be an artifact that enhances opportunities for opinion sharing and social actions.

However, the perception of schools as producers of ‘’good citizens’’ with moral values is an important obstacle to students’ political existence, which I will address in this section. Then, I will turn to positive policy tendencies that encourage dialogic teaching and the implementation of citizenship education in the curriculum. Unfortunately, the implementation of these policies is a challenge, so I will discuss the consequences of this poor implementation of democratic citizenship. Finally, the socioeconomic inequalities presented in the results affect the way students enact their citizenship, so I will explore how this obstacle could be turned into an opportunity.

6.2.1 Perception of education as a tool to produce good citizens

When reading the Haitian educational plan, one can see the modernist vision of the desired citizen.

The following passage was selected from the Haitian Ministry of Education (MENFP) website:

We share a dream: to see Haiti become, an emerging country by 2030, a society that is simple, fair, just and solidary, living in harmony with its environment, its culture and a controlled modernity. [...] With a modern, strong, dynamic, competitive, open and broad-based economy, where all basic needs of the population are met and managed by a strong, decentralized state.

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[The aim is] to produce a citizen, respectful of values, disciplined, hard-working, honest and able to apply the standards of a democratic society and to contribute, through their intellectual training and their mastery of new technologies, the creation of a modern, egalitarian society, oriented towards progress and development. (MENFP, 2012)

The Haitian Ministry of Education spreads the idea that schools should produce good citizens. This vision denies students’ subjectivity and impedes the flourishing of diverse democratic experiences in schools. The government’s vision is likely to influence how teachers see their role in society and their perception of education for democracy. In this research, teachers saw themselves as responsible for educating ‘’good citizens’’ which would contribute to a better functioning democracy and economy in Haiti.

According to Biesta (2010), this vision of the relationship between education and democracy is problematic, as it denies students already existing political subjectivity. Young Haitians already experience democracy. They have various ideas and opinions about their country that might not correspond to what is now considered moral values and good citizenship. The question about homosexuality raised by one of the students during observation time illustrated how a vision of citizenship education centered around pre-defined moral values can lead to social reproduction of oppression and impede plurality. Nevertheless, plurality is essential to students’ political existence, according to Arendt (1959), and learning to live with others in diversity is at the core of Biesta’s conception of democratic citizenship (Biesta, 2011). ³

Acknowledging the value of students’ already existing subjectivities and encouraging their diversity could be an opportunity to embrace a conception of the relationship between education and democracy that enhances democratic citizenship. In practical terms, this means allowing for the political existence of students in the classroom. For example, the learners should be the ones who define what is a ‘’good citizen’’ as this exercise is both part of the learning process and it is crucial for defining democracy itself.

3 Here, I want to acknowledge the danger of Eurocentrism when addressing values that are considered traditional.

I do not claim that these values are inferior, but argue for creating a space where students can reflect on them and form their own opinion.

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Adapting a more dialogical approach to teaching is another way to enhance democratic citizenship in schools. Positive steps have been taken in this direction with the New Secondary reform.

6.2.2 Positive policy tendency and potential of citizenship education

The New Secondary reform might be an opportunity to enhance democratic citizenship in schools, for two main reasons. First, the shift to a competency-based approach places the teacher as mediator, which allows for students’ political existence. Second, the introduction of citizenship education in the curriculum could be a space for students to learn through democracy, act in their environment, and redefine democracy.

All teachers saw the pedagogical approach put forward by the education reform as positive. They said it was more useful for students to gain skills than learning by heart like in the traditional approach. Teacher 3 explains his vision of the competency-based approach:

Following the competency approach when you have a topic, you collect the learners' opinion and then do a job called fixation. We take every opinion we try to weigh and we make a synthesis. In that sense, I am not the first to speak on the issue. It is the students who first speak. They tell you what they know about the budget issue. Then they are asked the facts in reality and from these facts, we do the debate, we do the analysis. (T3) Quote 47

This method echoes Vygotsky and Freire’s notion of teacher as mediator. By letting students speak first, the teacher can enter a true dialog with them and become co-investigator of their world.

Students learn when they engage with others to go further than their mere opinion. They look for facts and other ways to make sense of their experiences. Encouraging students to be active in their learning and participate as co-investigator is beneficial in all subjects, but can be particularly interesting in citizenship education class, as the purpose of this class is to make sense of their democratic citizenship. Some teachers have mentioned how they use the citizenship education course to create opportunities for students to act in their environment.

For example, teacher 3 explained how his students decided to take eco-actions after going into the city twice to acknowledge pollution issues and their underlying causes. I had the opportunity to witness teacher 3 act as a mediator in his class in a girls-only religious private school. He asked if students had done any eco-actions since the last class. One female student explained that she had tried to raise awareness by telling an old man that he should not throw garbage on the ground. The

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man promptly insulted her, so she told the class that she would not try to raise awareness on the issue anymore. The other students reacted to her story, some arguing that it was their responsibility to do all they could to protect the environment. Other students thought they only had to stop polluting themselves, but were not accountable for others’ actions. Beyond the simple experience lived by one student, the class debate that followed becamea mediating tool. Students could exist politically and socio-construction their knowledge about what democratic citizenship entails. This is a good example of how the citizenship education course could be a good artifact for improving democratic participation in secondary schools.

If students are already subjects in their learning, they are more likely to develop attitudes and skills in line with participative democracy for the future. Teachers and other actors in education could use the opportunity opened by the restructuration of the secondary school curriculum to make citizenship education class a place where students can exist politically, engaging in discussions on their experiences both inside and outside schools.Increasing the number of democratic experiences that enhances political existence is an opportunity for sociocultural development of democratic knowledge and behaviors. As Biesta expresses, learning through democracy is the best way to learn about it and transform it (Biesta, 2011). It is by acting and bringing their ideas to the world that Haitian students can re-appropriation the conception of democracy based on their experience, and not only on Western knowledge.

Although the state worked in this direction by adding a citizenship education course and favoring a competency-based approach, the implementation of these policies is still a challenge.

6.2.3 Unequal implementation of curriculum and education reform

The state does not monitor schools in the implementation of the curriculum. It is therefore difficult to standardize the education reform and ensure access to the citizenship education course in all schools. Indeed, many private schools might not feel obligated to comply with state reforms, as what they teach is only verified through students’ national examinations. As explained in the section on weak institutions, state’s entities are inefficient, and they rarely verify what happens in schools. How informants described the citizenship education course and its implementation revealed that there is still confusion around the issue. Some informants said it was a course in itself but there were not enough teachers to provide it, while others said it was the responsibility of the social sciences teacher to integrate it in the class. Nonetheless, many schools had not integrated a

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citizenship education course, and not all social sciences teachers had started teaching it. This confusion illustrates the poor implementation of the curriculum, which is an obstacle to the equal access to the citizenship education course. Students from different schools have unequal access to the potential knowledge and experiences that can be gained from citizenship education, as some schools simply do not teach it. Moreover, the unstandardized implementation of the curriculum leaves more space for teachers’ subjectivity in the transmission of knowledge.

As explained, the strong hierarchic relationship can be an obstacle to Freire’s dialogical method in which the teacher is not above learners, but a co-investigator. Most participants in the research disapproved some of their colleagues, either for their approach to teaching or the way they treat students. This reminds us that teachers can be both part of obstacles and opportunities in education for democracy. They can enhance participation or contribute to perpetuating oppression by imposing ideas on students. This is echoed by how students said some teachers express pro-dictatorship ideas in the classroom while others depicted the Duvaliers as evil. When the curriculum is not well-implemented across all schools, teachers’ subjective opinions of democracy can be taught as facts, which leads to contradictions in students’ conceptions.

Teachers emphasized that they face many challenges, which impacts the implementation of the curriculum and the education reform. First, all teachers except T7 mentioned the hardship of poor salaries that forces them to teach in many institutions and work exhausting hours. Being a good mediator by creating the conditions for students to acquire knowledge and live democratic experiences requires time for planning. Haitian teachers rarely have this time, unless they choose to teach fewer hours which would mean a decrease in salary. For most interviewees, this option was not available, especially when they had a family to support.

Eight teachers mentioned the lack of teachers’ training saying that people teach in secondary schools with a degree in specific fields like chemistry, engineering or law. This means they never studied pedagogy, didactic or theories of education. The lack of teachers’ training can be an obstacle to teaching democracy, as explained by teacher 5:

Well, having under-qualified teachers in the system, how to ask him to give notions of citizenship, patriotism in school? Because, for me, the teacher has to do a motivational job. It's not only, you arrive in the classroom and give notions of French, mathematics etc. (T1) ^{Quote 48}

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It can be hard for teachers who have never studied education to find ways for students to acquire knowledge in a dialogic environment. It is easier to stand in front of the class and transmit knowledge by solely speaking or writing on the board. This approach is closer to what Freire would call banking education, and it tends to encourage students to only accept the worldview of the teacher instead of challenging it (Freire, 1972). However, training teachers to more dialogic ways could also be an opportunity to enhance democratic citizenship experiences in schools.

Attempts have been realized in this way with the education reform but unfortunately, the lack of resources hampers the results of this reform, as this female student from group 3 explains:

They have put a new program that is the new secondary but Haiti is not prepared for this program. The other countries that have this program have all the necessary materials, laboratories. But we were not prepared for this program, they put it anyway. The state gives us the building but it does not give us school materials, the state does not pay the teachers, there are strikes, demonstrations. (Student G3) Quote 49

6.2.4 Inequalities, double binds and potential new artifacts

Socioeconomic inequalities between schools as well as gender and language inequalities can create double binds which are obstacles for students’ equal participation in democracy. For example, social norms require a certain type of education to become part of the government or decision-making position. The marketization of education obstructs the chances of children from financially poor families to get what is considered quality education in expensive private schools. Moreover, the language barriers are often an extra learning difficulty for kids with lower socio-economical background.

Poor students find themselves in a position with contradicting demands which creates a double bind. On one hand, they would need to reach decision-making positions to make structural changes and reduce social inequalities. On the other hand, their lack of formal education makes it harder for them to represent themselves in politics and favor changes that would improve their lives’

conditions.

A similar double bind occurs regarding women’s engagement in democracy. Even though female students might want to engage in politics and fight for their rights, stereotypical ideas of gender

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roles require them to be in charge of the house and family. The fact that there are so few women in national politics in Haiti reinforces the idea that it is not for them, and prevents the few female representatives to have a concrete impact.

Social inequalities are an obstacle to equal participation of all citizens in democracy, but it can also be an opportunity when students are conscious of their oppression. When systemic contradictions preclude the emancipation of oppressed groups, it can lead to the creation of novel solutions by engaging in problem-solving discussion (Pacheco, 2012). In this research, students’

life conditions seemed to push them to be interested in politics to improve their life. When asked how they had developed their critical thinking, one student from group1 answered:

It comes from my life. I do not like the life I lead. I would like to have a more peaceful life, a little luxury. To improve that, I have to see my environment, how it works and how I can evolve. That's why I see good and bad things and I criticize. (Student G1) Quote 50

Engeström and Sannino argue that double binds can push people to start questioning the systemic conditions of the contradicting demands they suffer from (Engeström & Sannino, 2011). By addressing the processes that created and perpetuated inequalities in Haiti, students could construct and reconstruct their collective understanding of democracy in ways that might favor more equality. However, double binds do not always lead to an analysis of oppressive conditions, as this process requires organization and a space for discussion. Schools could be a transformative artifact that enhances the political existence of students through the analysis of their own experiences regarding these inequalities. The teacher, as mediator, could bring the students to question the double binds they face and analyze how democracy can be part of this problem or of the possible solutions.

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